It's late January and 45 degrees and raining, hard! Most of the snow has washed away and the cows and chickens are beginning to graze the newly uncovered green grass. Where the ice remains it is covered by a sheet of water making it expecially slippery. Dave observed Dede, our pregnant heffer, slip and fall on a slick spot. In recounting the incident to me, he said, "I think she was more embarassed than anything."

Dave just returned from a three day NOFA/NY (Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY) conference in Saratoga. where he took a full day hands-on workshop on farming with draft horses. "Are you thinking of getting a horse?" I asked. "No, I'm thinking I could train our cows to do the work."

Meanwhile, in Dave's absence, our new tenant, Ezra (a 31 year old enlisted man with an M.F.A. in poetry who just returned from Afghanistan) and I took care of the menagerie. Of particular note in that regard have been three goats, "Double Trouble" and her twin boys, "White Face" and "Hic-cup," born just before Dave left for the conference. We were experiencing single digit nights last week when they arrived and knew they would not survive outside. So they have been sharing our living room with us ever since. Even indoors it's been touch and go, as Mom is not producing sufficient milk and the babies won't take a bottle. The kids are still alive (their will to live is amazing), but quite frail. Our plan was to gradually reintroduce them to the outdoors after a few days, but the babies are too weak to begin doing so at present.

Once Dave returned home, it became clear that since the kids would not take a bottle, the only way to keep them from starving to death was to tube feed them. Dave had purchased the appropriate supplies previously to have on hand for just such an emergency. So, following written instructions, he gently fed a foot of tube down each baby's throat till it entered the appropiate stomach (goats have 4), and we poured 4 ounces of organic cow's milk down the hatch. Having followed this procedure four times a day for three days now, and having added organic half-and-half to the mix, the kids are getting alot stronger and have gained back the weight they had lost since birth. I figure that within a couple of months the kids will be ready to return to the great outdoors. It may take a bit longer for the house to stop smelling like a barn, however.

Back to the weather: the temperature has dropped since earlier in the week and we have been treated to a surfeit of light, fluffy lake effect snow which has accumulated 8 or 10 inches since yesterday. One of the chores created by significant snow fall is clearing it off the top of our plastic hoop house, which has ribs of plastic pipe which cannot hold a snow load like metal ribs can. So late this morning I went out to deal with it. After trying several techniques (while fantasizing how I would extricate myself were the house to collapse on top of me), I settled on a series of right-left-right combination punches to the inside walls and ceiling to get the snow to slide off. I had to slowly work my way up and down the 100 foot long structure several times before the snow was sufficiently cleared. I figure I can skip the gym today.

As an additional reward for my hard work, I am cooking a lunch of potato/leek frittata, with a side of beet salad made from certified organic French fingerling potatoes, King Richard leeks, "Just Laid" pastel colored eggs, Clear Dawn onions and Golden beets. All these ingredients have been produced right here at Cross Island Farms and are available for sale now from the farm and from Doxtaters Farmer's Market, Route 37 in Pamelia.

Tomorrow is the JCJDC luncheon where the winner of the "New Business Venture" award will be named. Win or Lose, Cross Island Farms is proud to have been nominated for this award. It is because of the support and encouragement of you, our friends and patrons, that we have been able to accomplish all that we have to date.